Chelsea vs Tottenham: Five things we learned as Maurizio Sarri's side find redemption at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea edged Tottenham 2-0 in a frantic game at Stamford Bridge to provide welcome relief from the substitution saga that engulfed the club this week.

After a deadlocked first half, where both sides hit the woodwork and Gonzalo Higuain spurned a gilt-edged chance, it was Maurizio Sarri’s side who took the lead early in the second.

Eden Hazard pounced on the loose-ball in midfield before teeing-up Pedro to cap a standout performance by cutting inside and hammering the ball in at the near post off Hugo Lloris’ heel.

Tottenham chased the equaliser until Kieran Trippier’s horrific backpass rolled inexplicably beyond Hugo Lloris and into his own net in the closing stages to alleviate the poisonous atmosphere around Chelsea over the past few days.

Here’s five things we learned from the game...

If this was touted as Maurizio Sarri’s final chance for redemption, as many billed before the match, it was the urgency and early domination of his side after the pre-match and half-time team talks which evidenced that his players are still with him. Not only was there a vigour and mettle to outmatch Tottenham in those haywire starts, but an organisation to Chelsea that saw their often faltering defence sured up and a smooth transition from defence to attack in a team which has been so guilty in recent weeks of becoming gridlocked in possession.

That was admittedly aided by the openness of the game, and Tottenham’s desire to clash head-to-head, but there was a resolute and reassuring solidity to Sarri’s side. One which promised of more to come than grinding to a half, and even in the closing stages of the game, before Trippier’s own goal as the Blues began to drop deeper under Spurs besiegement, there was a resilience at the back that we’ve already seen crack this season at Stamford Bridge against the likes of Leicester just a few weeks ago.

It was at the moment where Chelsea had just begun to look shaky, those closing ten minutes where nerves command instinct, the back line drops and the midfield sinks into a battle of attrition when Kieran Trippier capped a poor performance with the most ludicrous of own goals.

The right-back had already been exposed by Eden Hazard in the first half, but as Oliver Giroud flicked on into no-man’s land, the England international didn’t even raise his eyes to see Lloris en route to collect the loose ball and proceeded to side-foot into the bottom corner of his own net.

It was the cruellest derailment but as much as this result was a testament to the will of Sarri’s Chelsea, it also cemented an old cycle as Harry Kane’s frustrations boiled over in the dying moments. After a Premier League push which promised so much, Spurs have plummeted from a title race into a battle for Champions League places

Sarri was vindicated in the choice of his tested and oft-maligned midfield trio in Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic and Ngolo Kante, despite Ross Barkley’s impressive recent form. And in Chelsea’s spells of dominance at the beginning of either half, their implementation of ‘Sarriball’ proved impossible for Tottenham to disband.

However, for what Spurs lacked in such a barricade, it was their fluidity which highlighted something Chelsea often lack. Rather than being stuck to a rigid formation, Christian Eriksen would trade his playmaking role in the centre-circle to masquerade as a right-winger. Harry Winks would charge forward on measured occasion when he sniffed a scent of goal, and Moussa Sissoko, as always, bombed readily between defence and attack.

It’s that easiness to trade positions and cover holes, that has allowed Mauricio Pochettino’s side to prosper even in a season so hampered by injuries to senior players. Today, eventually, they were overrun, but with that fluidity there is always the promise of a plan B. That’s something, for all of Chelsea’ success today, that they continue to lack.

How many times before Christmas was Eden Hazard suffocated out of games when sunken into a false-nine position? Thus far, the joy of Sarri bringing Gonzalo Higuain into the squad is not one of the striker’s talismanic presence up top, nor an ability to carry the side with his goals. Instead, it’s a robust and rather less glorified task of using his strength and quickly fading speed to hold up the ball and take opposing centre-halves with him. In doing so, he creates the glimpses of space in which the Belgian and Pedro thrive.

Within the opening minutes, as Hazard set a trend of half-paced stopovers to swat aside the ever susceptible Tripper, the added dynamism of the Blues’ front three was evident. Higuain would drop deep to hold up the ball on the edge of the box, swivel and pass to Hazard or Pedro on the overlap. Then, by the time they had cut their way in towards goal, the Argentine would be poised just outside the tangle of legs on the edge the box.

One such move saw him slice a half-volley against the post after just six minutes. Fifteen minutes later, after Hugo Lloris’ terrible pass out of goal, Hazard opened up the space for Higuain on his weaker foot and his curled effort on his weaker foot should have seen Chelsea take the lead.

The minute Chelsea reversed on their ill-formulated “misunderstanding” guise, Sarri was left with no choice but to drop obnoxious rebel keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. To reinstate the 23-year-old, on the back of a belated apology, would be to relinquish his reign over this already fraught dressing room.

The players themselves are divided over the keeper’s actions, and at a time where their season is in danger of combusting, it is Sarri’s job, no matter how spiteful his cigarette-chomping rage, to reunite his players. The resounding cheer given to Willy Caballero when forced bravely into action midway through the first half was a testimony of the supporters’ understanding to Sarri had no option but to reinstate his leadership. Punishment has now been delivered in full, and the squad have a better chance of moving on as one.